50 Checkpoints of Warren Buffett's Carreer

After having completed Buffett by Roger Lowenstein, a great book about this master investor, I thought of creating a summary, or actually a time line, of the "master and his canvas". In this timeline I have indicated the page numbers of the above-mentioned book from where I got the information.

0. Selling paper and cherry coke -Buffett breathed business since he was a young boy. By the time he was 20 years old in 1950, he had saved $9,800 by selling newspaper and cherry coke.

1. College years - From 1950 to 1956, Buffett perfects his investment style by practicing it again and again; by 1956 he has $140,000. - page 58

2. First partnership - In 1956 Buffett forms his first partnership with seven people - his sister Doris, her husband, Aunt Alice, Dr. Thompson, his ex roommate Chuck Peterson, his mother and Dan Moren his lawyer. They altogether put $105K, of which Buffett contributes a whopping $100. Yeah, I did not miss any zeros; it is indeed one with two zeros. - page 58.

3. The same year he starts two more partnerships, one with physicist Homer Dodge who put in $120K. By the start of 1957 he is managing $300k.

4. Summer of 1957 - Ed Davis, a prominent urologist, put up $100K. By the end of 1957 Buffett is running 5 partnerships totaling $500k.

25. 1972 - Berkshire's insurance business had a float of $100 million of which only $17 million was invested in stocks.The rest were invested in bonds because Buffett was not able to find any bargains - page 148.

26. Feb 1973 - Buffett buys 18,600 shares at $27 each of the Washington Post (WPO); when the stock falls to $23 Buffett buys 40,000 more. By October 1973. Berkshire is the largest outside investor of Washington post. - page 152

27. Berkshire's share price in early 1974 had dropped from $80 to $40.Even Berkshire's portfolio was sinking. By end of 1973 its portfolio is $40 million with a net cost of $52 million.

34. In 1982 Courier Express it closed because of heavy losses. Evening News became the only local newspaper of Buffalo and its name is changed to Buffalo News. It becomes a goldmine for Buffett. The newspaper earned $19 million in its first year without competition. By the late eighties the Buffalo News will earn $40 million/year , way more than what Buffett had invested.

35. 1981 - Berkshire trades at $470.

36. 1982 - Berkshire trades at $750 - page 242.

37. By 1983 Berkshire's investments are worth $1.3 billion.

38. September 1983 - Berkshire trades at $1,245.In 1965 Dow was at 933 and Berkshire at $18.By 1983 Berkshire is at $1,310 and the Dow is at 1,259. Buffett's net worth is $620 million - page 243.

39. 1985 - Berkshire trades at $2,600.

40 By 1987 Berkshire trades at $3,450. Buffett had sold all the shares of his portfolio except cap cities, GEICO and Washington Post. - page 296.

41. Black Monday era - October 19,1987 is considered black Monday, which triggers a series of stock market collapses all over the world. By the end of October, the Dow had lost 22%. A week before the fall Berkshire traded at $4,230. On October 16 it trades at $3,890 and on October 19 it falls to $3,170.

42. By spring of 1989 Berkshire has acquired $1.02 billion of Coca Cola (NYSE:KO) (7% of the company) at an average price of $10.96 - page 325.

44. In March 1989 Berkshire is trading at $4,800 and by the end of 1989 it is trading at $8,000.

45. Berkshire trades at $8,750 in September 1989 - page 360.

46. 1990 - Buffett buys 10% of Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) bank.The reason being that Carl Reichardt, the chairman of the bank who was famous for slashing costs , had once sold his jet to cut costs and Buffett appreciated this gesture - page 363

48. After the debacle of 1990. By August 1991 Berkshire is again at $8,800.

49. November 1992 Berkshire is a $10k stock; by the end of 1993 it is $16,325; by 1995 it is 32,100 and by 1996 it is $40k. The net revenues in 1995 are $4.56 billion and
net income is $795 million.

50. Still going strong in the 21st century: Even though Berkshire's insurance business faced some huge losses in recent hurricanes and floods, the company's revenues have increased from $74 billion in 2004 to $98 billion in 2006.The net income has increased from $7.3 billion to $11 billion. The book value has increased from $85 billion to $108 billion in the corresponding time period. Wall Street has handsomely rewarded the master investor's baby by increasing its stock price from $84k in July 2005 to $110k in Jul-2007. A 30% gain in two years, which I would give an A+ considering that it is a mega large cap company (Berkshire's market cap is around $170 billion as of July 23,2007).